The present invention relates to a non-contact power transmission apparatus and a method for designing a non-contact power transmission apparatus.
FIG. 6 schematically shows a non-contact power transmission apparatus that transmits power from a first copper coil 51 to a second copper coil 52 placed at a distance from the first copper coil 51 by means of resonance of electromagnetic fields. Such apparatuses are disclosed, for example, in NIKKEI ELECTRONICS 2007.12.3 Issue, pages 117 to 128, and International Patent Publication WO/2007/008646. In FIG. 6, a magnetic field generated at a primary coil 54 connected to an alternating-current source 53 is intensified by means of magnetic field resonance of the first and second copper coils 51, 52. The effect of electromagnetic induction of the intensified magnetic field around the second copper coil 52 generates power in a secondary coil 55. The generated power is then supplied to a load 56. It has been confirmed that, when first and second copper coils 51, 52 having a diameter of 30 cm were placed 2 m away from each other, 60-watt light as the load 56 was turned on.
To effectively supply output power of the alternating-current source 53 to the load 56 in this non-contact power transmission apparatus, it is necessary to efficiently supply the output power of the alternating-current source 53 to a resonance system (the first and second copper coils 51, 52 and the primary and secondary coils 54, 55). However, the above listed documents only schematically disclose non-contact power transmission apparatuses, but have no concrete description as to how to obtain a non-contact power transmission apparatus that satisfies such requirements.